DOMAINE SCHOFFIT
We will shortly be shipping from Alsace and I am delighted to send you this pre-shipment offer on the irresistible wines from Domaine Schoffit.
We have had the pleasure of working with the Schoffit family for many years, from when Bernard had taken over the reins. Today, he is assisted by his son Alexandre, who is picking up the baton with the same passion and dedication to quality.
The Domaine is situated on the outskirts of Colmar. (Although having visited numerous times over the decades, I still seem to have tremendous difficulty navigating my way across Colmar to this address.) The 17ha of vineyards, combine great locations and terroir with old vines, the perfect ingredients for fine wine.
The Schoffits have been working organically for many years and have always managed their vineyards with total consideration and care for the environment, with the first wines being certified organic in 2020. They are now also working biodynamically, having started with the Harth vineyard, to 'test the water' and have now adopted the same principles in the Grand Cru. Indeed the Domaine is well renowned for the fabulous wines they produce from the Grand Cru Rangen, further south at Rouffach. With its distinctive volcanic soils and smoky minerality of its wines, the Rangen is a particular favourite of mine. The Schoffit wines manage to capture all the powerful Rangen expression, whilst not eclipsing the purity of expression of each varietal.
Indeed, for me, the great pleasure of all the Domaine's wines, is their pure, expressive aroma and flavours, consistency in quality and exceptionally good value.
Visiting last December, I had the luxury of tasting through the wines of two recent vintages, 2019 and 2020. Both are excellent vintages, but quite different in style. In general, 2019 is a vintage which is a little more serious and structured and should offer greater longevity, whilst the 2020, has a more accessible fruit profile, combined with an elegantly refreshing balance, providing more immediate pleasure.
Despite the fact that all the wines I tasted were wonderful, surprisingly, I found it very easy to make my selection and am pleased to offer my highlights below.
2020 Chasselas Vieilles Vignes @ £79.00 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
We have been great fans of this wine for many years. Produced from old vines on the Harth vineyard, the Schoffit Chasselas is a little gem! Clean ripe, fruit on the nose, with subtle spicy notes. Dry and clean on the palate, with delicious, ripe pear and white peach fruit, lovely depth and concentration with delicate spices and subtle minerality, balanced by refreshing acidity.
2020 Pinot Auxerrois Vieilles Vignes @ £75.50 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Intense, ripe bouquet – fabulous fruit, depth and intensity with delicate spice, richer and more gras, than the Chasselas, but still dry on the palate with a super harmonious balance and clean, fresh, uplifting finish.
2020 Riesling Lieu-dit Harth,Tradition @ £88.80 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Lovely richness to the nose again, ripe and aromatic. Beautifully clean and dry on the palate, with ripe white peach fruit, combined with a steely minerality. Lovely complexity and finesse. Alexandre says, 'this is a blend of all the parcels of Reisling on the lieu-dit Harth, from many different sub-sections. They usually ripen at the same time, but in 2020, each block was reaching ripeness at different times, bringing many different attributes. Beautiful!'
2020 Pinot Gris Tradition £92.90 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Lovely ripe, rich fruit on the nose. Delicious fruit on the palate too. Smooth and round, but dry and elegant, with a very lovely, harmonious balance and clean finish. With just 6 g/l residual sugar, this is much drier than many Pinot Gris, making it a very versatile and refreshing example.
2019 Gewurztraminer Cuvee Caroline @ £93.80 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Bright gold in the glass. Fabulous concentration, with scents of rose and Turkish Delight. Palate very 'gourmand' with enticing hints of Turkish Delight again, combined with lychee, tea, ginger, and even Christmas pudding. As usual for the variety, the residual is 25 g/l here, but the balance is beautiful with a lovely, clean, fresh finish and real finesse.
2020 Gewurztraminer Cuvee Alexandre @ £115.85 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Lovely ripeness on the nose – apricot fruit. The lovely richness of fruit on the palate, peach/apricot/orange fruit, combined with notes of tea and subtle spices. Wonderful concentration – pure and intense, with good support of tannin and uplifting balance of acidity. With 49 g/l residual, this is unctuous but elegant with super length.
2020 Riesling Rangen Fut 24 @ £188.00 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Intense ripe, pure, smokey, concentrated Rangen character. Comes through. Same character on the palate too, saline and smokey with lovely complexity and clean balance. Super intensity, with serious structure and great length.
2019 Riesling Grand Cru Rangen (Fut 06) @ £188.00 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Amazing intensity persistence and vibrancy on the nose, with a complex saline, smoky 'Rangen' character. Dry, full, powerful and intense on the palate. Seriously structured and multi-layered, with the ripe fruit combined with the Rangen minerality. Fabulous length! Stunning!
2020 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Rangen @ £175.00 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Lovely depth, full, intense, powerful, Rangen character on the nose. Super concentration on the palate, with distinct saline, smoky expression, combined with lovely richness of fruit and vibrant lift of acidity. The residual here is 25 g/l, but with a perfect balance of acidity and structure. Superb complexity and length!
2019 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Rangen @ £195.00 per case x six, Duty Paid/Inc Vat
Fabulous intense, ripe, pure, complex bouquet. Tantalizing ripe, exotic fruit flavours, orange and lime marmalade. The smoky character of the Rangen is evident behind, in lovely balance with the unctuous fruit. Fabulous complexity and length. 44 g/l residual, but lovely finesse. Phenomenal!